Various tow bars for towing vehicles have been known for many years. However, conventional tow bars are typically bulky, heavy structures which require a fairly lengthy amount of time to install between the vehicles, and a similar amount of time to remove once the vehicle has been towed to the desired location.
Furthermore, prior art towing apparatus were designed for complete removal from the towed vehicle upon arrival at the desired location. Removal of the towing apparatus was also conventionally inconvenient and time-consuming. Thus, in those instances where it was desired to use the vehicle intermittently, it was necessary to completely remove and install conventional towing apparatus at each stop. Such a time-consuming effort was frustrating for the user, and detracted from the desirability of towing a vehicle.
The inventor herein solved many of these problems by virtue of the collapsible towing hitch of his two previous patents, U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,521 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,473. While these patents greatly reduced the time necessary to connect and disconnect a vehicle to be towed, the devices disclosed therein still suffer some drawbacks.
While the devices of the inventor's previous patents permitted quick and simple connection of a towed vehicle to a .[.rowing.]. .Iadd.towing .Iaddend.vehicle, the towing hitch remained on the towed vehicle when not in use. The .[.astatic.]. .Iadd.aesthetic .Iaddend.appearance of a collapsed towing hitch on the front end of a vehicle is not always appealing to all consumers. Since the collapsible towing hitch is bolted directly to the bumper of the vehicle, it is not a quick and simple task to remove the hitch from the towed vehicle.
It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide an improved removable hitch for towing vehicles or the like.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a towing hitch which is collapsible for storage on the towing vehicle.
Yet another object is to provide an improved hitch which may .Iadd.be .Iaddend.easily expanded for towing purposes, and easily collapsed to a storage position.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a towing hitch which is easy to install on the towed vehicle.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a towing hitch which is easily removable from the towing vehicle.
These and other objects of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art.